Creosote build up ?

later,dave

I also have a hugh problem, with older dry wood, or dead wood, it seems to create a hugh creasote buildup, is this with the wood? I cannot seem to get a hot fire going as it will smoke the house up if I open the vents.

Burning of high-resin woods, like pine, fir or spruce will give you a SERIOUS creosote problem.
Other softwoods are not as bad, but still not as good as hardwoods like maple or ash.

Not sure why you can't get a good fire going, sounds like a draft problem. Until you get the flue hot, the chimney won't draw well. Opening up the vents at that point will for sure smoke up the house. Try a very small fire of shop scraps from kiln-dried lumber, start slow and get the chimney hot so it draws good, then let 'er rip.

Check the chimney first, don't want to do this if there's a buildup in it.

The best bet of course is keeping it clean.

I also keep a good sized dry chemical fire extinguisher next to the woodstove. We had a chimmney fire some years ago, it started roaring like a jet on takeoff.

I discharged a fire extinguisher up the flue. Put it out in seconds.

Beat watching the house burn down. Our only heat is the wood stove (a massive one).. we have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in every room and a large extiguisher by the stove.

Have thought about plumbing a fire sprinkler up in the attic. Like lots of things around here, haven't got too it yet.

To prevent building up creosote in the firt place:

1. Use dry hardwood. Air dried under cover for at least a year is ideal.

2. Build small, hot fires. Stuffing the stove full and choking it down so it doesn't drive you out of the house may be easier (less stove tending) but it's begging for problems.

3. If you build banked fires for overnight heat, start the morning with a good hot fire to burn out any buildup. The magnetic thermometers that clamp on the stovepipe are good, I get mine up to 700 degrees or so for about 15 minutes every morning.

4. Even with the above, it's just good common-sense practice to run a brush through your chimney avery 4-6 weeks during heating season.

That, or keep yer fire department number on speed dial...